


Weird Girl [Draco Malfoy]

by jokersgothgf



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Fanfiction, Idiots in Love, Love, Love/Hate, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25554454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jokersgothgf/pseuds/jokersgothgf
Summary: Ariel was a weird girl, even to the members of the wizarding community. Her emerald green hair drew attention along with her constant day dreaming and clumsiness. Ariel decided to take up an exchange student program to broaden her horizons and discover new possibilities. However, what she didn't think was that the transition from Ilvermorny to Hogwarts for only one year would expose her to the many ugly truths of the British wizarding community.[Yes, this is an AU where exchange students exist.][This will be a mix of the books and the movies.]
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Other(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Ariel stared at the mirror. Half of her head was saturated with a blue-green hair dye while the other half still showed the faded hair from when she dyed it back at the beginning of summer. Now, here she was again in September. Gloves on, skin stained, and dye almost out.

She poked her tongue out from in between her lips. The dye brush worked its way through her roots and down to the ends of her shoulder length hair. She was determined to get her hair done and out of the way before leaving in just a few hours to board the train to her new school.

Ariel never thought she'd be the one to travel across the Atlantic Ocean from her home in Boston to London. But when her school offered the exchange program, she jumped right at it. For what reason? She still didn't know. Ariel wasn't the type of person to jump at things in the spur of the moment. She liked living in the shadows, being her calm, ditzy self. However, she knew she needed to explore the world more and what better way to do it than becoming an exchange student.

Ariel was glad, however. Her entrance into this new school, Hogwarts, was going to be inconspicuous. A private sorting ceremony had already taken place for her so she didn't have to be worried and embarrassed to be sorted with all the first-years. The hat bellowed out, "Gryffindor!" and an older witch, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and the head of Gryffindor house, handed her a red and orange striped tie while congratulating her. Ariel was given her wand, which shocked her a bit since Ilvermorny didn't allow wands to be carried outside of the school by the students. It was a quick ceremony and she was back at her hotel room before she could even process what happened.

Once her hair was completely saturated, she wrapped a plastic bag over her head to seal in the color, a tradition she picked up from her mother whenever she dyed her hair to conceal the grey hairline growing in. Ariel peeled off the gloves and threw them in the trashcan. She smiled to herself, seeing that she didn't leave one spot of hair dye on the white counter of the hotel bathroom.

Now came the hard task of cleaning out the dye bowl and brush. She sighed, knowing the sink would turn blue-green after this is done. She slid on another clean glove on her right hand, thinking it would be the only hand that would touch the dye. How wrong she was.

The sink turned blue-green, of course. And so did Ariel's left hand. Her matte burgundy nails now had an odd tint to them due to the dye. She shrugged it off. This didn't bother her much.

The clock next to the bed of her hotel room read 7:32 AM. Ariel calculated in her head how long to leave the dye in. She decided to wash it off at 8:15 AM exactly.

-

The dye was out and Ariel examined her hair through the bathroom mirror. She already dried it with the hair dryer provided in the room. She smiled, showing the little dimples on her cheeks. Now she was ready to face the world.


	2. Chapter 2

Ariel sensed the presence of many witches and wizards at King's Cross Station. She picked through the crowd and attached herself to a group of wizards to figure out how to enter platform 9 ¾. The instructions she received were simple enough.

'To enter Platform 9 ¾, simply run between Platforms 9 and 10. You will reach your destination in seconds.'

Ariel stood back, watching from a bit of a distance. Student after student ran towards the wall and vanished before her eyes. She blinked and glanced around at the no-maj who didn't seem to have a care in the world that kids were running into a brick wall and disappearing. 

The last student ran in, followed by his parents. Ariel decided to make her move then. She pushed the cart which held all of her belongings out from behind a pillar and casually strolled to the spot where the students were running in. The no-maj walked around, as if she didn't exist. She didn't pay any mind to it and mimicked the way the students before her. She closed her eyes tightly before hitting the wall then reopened them to see many magical folk and a sign that read '9 ¾.'

-

The train ride to Hogwarts was long and bumpy. Ariel somehow found a compartment to herself. She stared out the window the whole time, getting lost in the scenery and her own thoughts. 

As the train jerked to a halt, Ariel snapped out of her day dream of holding hands with the cute boy in her potions class back in Ilvermorny. This gave her thoughts to how she can improve her confidence during the year she's away from home. She tried to contain a smile as she waited for most of the students to get off the train.

-

Ariel didn't like crowds but a few people around her was alright. She followed a group of six people off the train and onto the platform then from the platform to a gated area. A professor who looked to be part-goblin was checking names off of a list. Ariel waited, looking up and around at the forest surrounding them and the gates before her. 

The line moved and it was now Ariel's turn to give her name to the professor, who she remembered was named Flitwick according to the instructional letter that was sent to her.

'Follow the crowd of students to a gated area. Wait and give your name to Professor Flitwick, who will be standing next to the gate with a quill and scroll.'

"Name?" asked the professor once Ariel was next to him.

"Ariel Sheppard," she answered in her soft voice, looking down at the professor. He looked up at her after searching and marking her name, his face cracking into a smile.

"Ah! Miss Sheppard," he began, quite enthusiastically, "Welcome to Hogwarts! I trust your travels have been fine?"

Ariel nodded, "Everything went well."

"Excellent." Flitwick noticed his conversation was inhibiting the carriage from leaving. He allowed Ariel on, giving her a slight wave as the carriage departed.

Ariel was seated closest to the exit. Her eyes flickered to the front of the carriage, noticing it was being pulled by a strange looking creature. A creature that almost seemed to look like a horse but with leather skin instead of fur and wings that looked like they belonged to very large bat. The other students in the carriage didn't pay any attention to these creatures so Ariel didn't either. In fact, the students were so focused in on their own conversations that they didn't even seem to notice she was there.

She didn't mind however. Her mind flooded with imagination of exploring the castle and sketching all the beautiful places she could find. She didn't realize the glances the students cast at her. She didn't realize the whispers about her either.

"Who is she?"

"I don't know."

"Don't first years have to arrive in a different area."

"But she doesn't look like a first year!"

"I've never seen her before! What house is she even in?"

Eventually the carriage came to a stop. Ariel was the first one out with the help of another kind student who was making sure no one fell out of the carriage. She gave him a soft smile, "Thank you." The boy seemed nervous and gave her a faint smile. Ariel followed the flood of students into the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

Ariel was stunned by how vast the Great Hall was. It was so different than the Great Hall back in Ilvermorny. Older, actually. But Ariel liked the ancient architecture of the whole castle. She thought it gave the school more personality.

Students flooded past her, straight to their houses' tables. The chatters grew louder but Ariel just stood there, unsure of where to go. The instructions she was given ended after it read, 'Change into robes before entering the Great Hall at 18:30 sharp.'

She looked down and observed the colors of her tie. Red and gold stripes. Gryffindor. Ariel followed the other students with similar ties to the table and attempted to find a spot to sit at. She came across a red-headed boy who had a small spot open next to him. Ariel didn't say anything and slipped into her spot. Unbeknownst to her, the boy and his two friends were already observing her as she sat down and situated herself.

"Excuse me?" Ariel looked up to a boy with glasses looking at her from across the table. "Are you new here?"

Ariel smiled and nodded, "Yes! I'm an exchange student."

"Bloody hell, I didn't even know Hogwarts took in exchange students," exclaimed the red-haired boy next to her. Ariel simply smiled at his lack of knowledge.

"I'm pretty sure this is the first year they're doing it." Ariel replied, noticing now how prevalent her American accent was in the sea of British accents. "I'm Ariel, by the way."

The three looked at her with embarrassment, as they failed to introduce themselves. But, instantly, they got around to it. Ron Weasley was the red-head sitting next to her, Hermione Granger was the pretty girl sitting in front of her, and Harry Potter was the boy with glasses and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead who was next to Hermione. A vaguely familiar name that was but Ariel decided to brush it off.

"What year are you?" asked Hermione, who seemed genuinely curious about the answer.

"Fifth," Ariel replied. "What about you guys?" All three acknowledged that they were fifth years as well. This relieved Ariel. At least now she knew some people who were in her house AND in her year.

The headmaster, who Ariel knew to be Dumbledore, began his speech. Giving updates about the school and announcing new a couple of new professors. The trio beside Ariel began whispering amongst themselves, concerned about a certain professor named Hagrid who was apparently missing. 

"Ehem."

Dumbledore was stopped in the middle of his speech as a woman in all pink slowly rose from her seat at the front table. Ariel didn't realize but her face contorted slightly, who was she to interrupt the headmaster to give her own little speech? Harry leaned in to the trio and whispered, "That's Umbridge! She was at my hearing."

Ariel blinked, knowing she wasn't supposed to overhear that. Hearing? She thought before her mind went back to the speech this Umbridge woman was giving. Well, not really. Ariel tuned in and out as the woman droned on. The Great Hall was getting restless as some kids went to having their own quiet conversations or zoned out.

By the time Ariel zoned back in, food appeared on the table. Ariel swallowed at the sight of baskets of bread, plates of chicken legs, and pitchers of pumpkin juice. She hadn't had a meal like this in quite a long time. She knew she could get comfortable here at Hogwarts if every meal was like this everyday and, of course, she was right.

Ariel reached for the goblet sitting next to her plate and took a sip of the pumpkin juice. She never had tried it before but the she didn't mind the taste. In fact, she loved it.

As Ariel continued to eat the feast before her, she felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked up and around through the sea of people. She looked behind her and next to her then finally, in front of her, behind Hermione.

A boy with white blonde hair and pale skin looked at her, with both curiosity and distaste. Ariel stared back at him, hoping to elicit some kind of response or make him turn away now that she noticed he was staring. He did neither. Ariel felt a nudge next to her.

"You alright?" she heard Ron speak out next to her, a little muffled due to the food in his mouth. Harry and Hermione fixed their eyes on her as well, wondering about this strange behavior, even though it was completely normal for Ariel.

"I'm fine," she replied in response to his question, "but there is a blonde boy over there staring at me."

"Malfoy," Harry said bluntly without even turning around, which somehow got the boy to shift his eyes towards the back of Harry's head. Ariel blinked, wondering what has happened between the two for Harry to say his name so bitterly. "Pay no attention to him."


	4. Chapter 4

It was morning. Ariel faced the mirror in her shared dormitory, running her hands through her hair in an attempt to calm it down. Her hair stood up in all sorts of directions, curls in some places and waves in others. She patted it down enough to make it look presentable then grabbed her book bag, packed with essentials such as journals, quills, ink, and a sketchbook for any free time she had. Ariel continued looking through the mirror, fixing the one piece of eyebrow hair that was sticking up.

-

The Great Hall was so much brighter in the daytime and slightly less stuffy as students slowly started filtering in for breakfast. Ariel looked around for a suitable spot to sit it. She settled down at the Gryffindor table. Of course, it was a spot closest to the food.

Ariel licked her lips and began putting various foods on her plate: eggs, bacon, and pieces of nicely browned toast. The boy next to her glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She took a quick look at him and recognized him as the boy that helped her out of the carriage last night.

"Hello!" Ariel greeted him, hoping to catch his attention. If he didn't notice her, she would be surprised. There weren't many people in the Great Hall so it was relatively quiet.

"Hello," he greeted her back quietly.

"I don't know if you remember me," she smiled, "but you helped me out of the carriage yesterday. Thank you!"

He smiled, "You're welcome."

"My name is Ariel," she began. Might as well meet as many people as possible, she thought to herself. "And yours?"

"Neville," he breathed out, "Neville Longbottom."

"It's nice to meet you, Neville Longbottom," Ariel teased him which caused the corner of his lips to curl up into a smile. Ariel was prepared to spark up a conversation with him when she noticed the same pair of eyes on her from the feast last night. She looked up at the blonde boy. Malfoy? Was that his name? Ariel wasn't exactly sure anymore. She didn't even know his first name. Unless Malfoy was his first name. In that case, what a tragic first name.

Ariel wanted to know what he wanted from her. Was he interested in her? Did he want to be her friend? Boyfriend? Was he too shy to make the first move? Ariel knew nothing of this Malfoy boy. She hasn't even been in this building for twenty-four hours yet so she couldn't base his personality off of anything she's heard. Other than Harry telling her to stay away from him.

She thought and decided to make a move. Nothing big, just a wave to see how he'd react. Ariel lifted her hand and gently shook it, giving him a her signature soft dimpled smile.

What Ariel didn't expect was for this Malfoy boy to literally cringe at her actions. His cringe was followed by a scowl. She immediately regretted her actions. God, you idiot. You should've just kept ignoring him.


	5. Chapter 5

After Ariel finished up her breakfast and conversation with Neville, she immediately left the Great Hall. Malfoy continued burning holes into her skull with his piercing gaze all throughout that time. She was glad to be out of there and away from his gaze, though she did want to continue talking to Neville. He was a simple boy with a fond interest in herbology, which she found to be incredibly adorable. He definitely reminded her of that cute boy in her Ilvermorny potions class.

Ariel wandered around the castle for a short time before her History of Magic class began. She felt great in this new place, more free. She felt like she could rebuild herself while she was away for a year and return wiser and more confident.

The halls became less crowded until Ariel found herself completely alone and lost. She walked quietly, hoping her shoes didn't make too much noise. She wanted as little attention to her as possible, even though the only people who were out were the ghosts.

Ariel came across an open door. With no one around, she gently pushed it open so she could slip inside. Was she allowed in here? The walls were lined with many trophies, awards, lists, and plaques. Down a connecting hall, the walls were lined with armor. The room intrigued Ariel. Finally, she was given a chance to explore. Since the room was primarily filled with student achievements, she thought it was safe for her to be in there.

She walked down and peered into a glass case. It had a list of the head boys and girls from all the time at Hogwarts. In fact, it wasn't much of a list. A book would be a better word for it. She didn't recognize any names.

Ariel moved onto another glass case. This one was filled with achievements for Quidditch. She didn't know much about Quidditch but still observed the contents of the case. She scanned the names on the plaque and stumbled upon another Potter. She cocked her head to the side, wondering if there was any relation between Harry and this man named James. She shrugged, deciding it wasn't important.

She moved on once again. This case was filled with all sorts of plaques and trophies. 'Awarded to Tom Riddle, for Special Services to Hogwarts.' Ariel's head cocked once again. Tom Riddle.... she thought. The name sounded familiar to her but she couldn't figure out where she heard it from or who it even was. Oh well, she thought. When the time comes, I'll figure it out.

Ariel looked down at her watch and realized she had 15 minutes to get to her History of Magic Class. She decided she should better go. She was lost on her way here. Maybe she'll be lost enough to magically end up in the classroom she needed to be at. While she was busy looking at her watch and making a plan, she didn't realize someone had entered the trophy room and was standing right behind her.

"What are you doing?"

Ariel felt her heart stop at the moment she heard the cold voice, slightly jumping at the sudden break of silence. She expected to be in trouble for entering this room but then she glanced up and saw the reflection of blonde hair in the glass case. Of all people, it was that Malfoy boy who caught her sneaking around. She would've rather it been Filch, who she heard was the nastiest man in this castle.

"Sorry, am I not allowed in here?" Ariel asked softly, giving him a gentle smile as she spun around to face him. This seemed to annoy him even more.

"You stupid mudbloods don't seem to know anything," he spit out angrily. 

Ariel blinked. What the hell did mudblood mean? 

"Someone's got a bit of an attitude, huh?" She said as she moved closer to him.

"I would watch what you say to me," he muttered as he pointed to a badge on his robes that shone a large P on it, "or I could get you into detention."

"And what the hell is that supposed to be?" Ariel questioned, laughing slightly at how big and bold he was being over nothing. She could see how angry he was getting, his pale skin slowly turning into a tomato. As he was about to speak, he was cut off.

"Ariel and Draco sitting in a tree," began the voice. Both of them looked off to the side, seeing a funny looking man in a jester's hat floating into the room full of armor. "K-i-s-s-i-n-g." Ariel couldn't help but laugh as she took a glance at the Malfoy boy, who she now knew was actually named Draco. Draco, she thought, What an odd name. Ariel knew that this being was just joking but Draco, on the other hand, looked even more angry than he did seconds ago.

"Get out, Peeves!" Draco yelled at him. Ariel still wasn't sure what he was, he didn't seem like a ghost.

"Oh? So you can kiss your little girlfriend in private?" Peeves replied, enjoying the anger and annoyance he was drawing out of Malfoy, much like Ariel was before his arrival. He let out a manic laughter before continuing to float down to the other end of the armor room.

At this point, Draco had enough. Ariel looked up at his face to notice a light pink tint across his pale cheeks. He backed up and sprang out the door, not wanting to be embarrassed any further.

Ariel looked at her watch and began panicking. The whole ordeal cost her time and now she only had 10 minutes to rush and find her History of Magic classroom.


End file.
